Another Bronx fire leaves 16 injured days after the deadly December 28 fire

Fire razed another Bronx apartment block in New York City on Tuesday leaving 16 people injured, just days after the deadly December 28 inferno that killed 12 people in the same area.

The three-storey building on the corner of Commonwealth and Bronx River avenues in Van Nest caught fire early morning and firemen responded quickly with over 20 fire engines to fight the blaze, local media reported.

“Our units arrived and were immediately faced with heavy fire. Numerous people were brought out of the building by the firefighters on scene. We have 16 people; seven adults and nine children, all with non life-threatening injuries,” New York City fire Chief Daniel Nigro told the media.

The fire is reported to have started in a furniture factory on the ground floor of the building.

This incident comes five days after a similar fire killed 12 people including four children and six Ghanaians in the same area near the Bronx Zoo. It was started by a by a three-year-old boy playing with a kitchen stove in one of the flats.

It is described as the deadliest since the 1990 Happy Land Social Club fire that claimed 87 lives a few blocks away.

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Ismail Akwei is the Head of Content at Face2face Africa. He is an international journalist (digital/ broadcast media), human rights advocate, pan-Africanist, tech enthusiast and a lover of art and culture. He has worked with multinational media companies in three African countries and has over a decade's experience in journalism.